Slooooow down...

If it wasn't so... well, almost pathetic, I might have laughed.  This morning, while driving home after taking my wife to work, a car behind me suddenly swerved around me (my bad!  I was 'only' going the speed limit!).  He then swerved back in front of me.  No sooner did he do that then he - again - swerved into the next lane.  (I'm guessing he encountered yet another 'going the speed limit, law-abiding' citizen!)  A few blocks up the road, the light turned red and where did this swerving driver find himself?  Right beside me - he hadn't gone any further ahead, despite his hurry and swerving and speeding.  Now you have to know this is not an uncommon thing on the roads in this city; however, it's not so much the speeding and swerving as it is the waste of energy and resources.

Proverbs 19:2
Haste makes mistakes.

Often we have heard this quoted as "haste makes waste", and while this is very true, the words of this proverb are also.  We often move through our lives in haste - hoping, wishing, maybe even expecting that things will be different if we just 'get a move on'.  I wonder if the driver of the 'swervy car' even considered what might happen when he moved oh so quickly in and out of the lanes!  While at first he did move further ahead, when he did have to stop, he was no further ahead.  And... he came all too close to hitting two of the vehicles (me included) around which he swerved - talk about a mistake that would have been.  So haste does indeed make mistakes.  I haven't even mentioned what the consequences might have been if a police officer had been anywhere near, considering the swerving and speeding that was going on!

Another thing about being hasty is that we might find ourselves trying to rely upon a strength we thought we had, but don't really have at all.  That is, in doing whatever we are doing in haste, do we ever think about whether or not we can accomplish the task, or make it in traffic, or whatever?  Again, the Bible gives us both advice and wisdom:

Isaiah 41:31
They that trust in (wait upon) the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

You see, if we wait on God, trusting in Him to lead and guide us, then we will find renewed strength, and in His strength we are always able to accomplish more than we ever could in our own strength. 

Years ago, the Nike company had a slogan: Just Do It!  In the church, we have often used this to emphasize the need to have an active faith, to do something about something and not just talk about it.  "Just Do It" has merit, yes, but if we move ahead in haste, we will likely find we should have waited on God for His wisdom in doing the task.  After all, doesn't God really know a whole lot more about everything than we do!

Ask yourself...

• What am I doing that is being done in haste?
• How might I change this?
• Am I rushing through life without recognizing God in it?
• If so, what might I see if I slow down?

After all, just like the driver who rushed ahead, both dangerously and illegally, and got nowhere fast, we too will not move forward if we don't wait on God, and move in His time.  And we know that if we do wait on God, He will give us new strength to keep on doing His work in this world.  So slooooow down... wait on the Lord... because if we don't, we won't get anywhere anyhow!  And the 'bonus'?  We will have renewed strength for this journey called life.  Amen!

PRAYERGod, sometimes we just hurry through life, not seeing anything around us, and not recognizing you in all there is in our lives.  Help us to slow down - to wait on you - and to find this new strength you promised to us. 
Amen.